Archive for July, 2006

Wal-Mart is the discount store down the street with smiling faces and great prices. Or is it really something different? The “low prices every day” policy is good for shoppers… or is it? When a new Wal-Mart comes into town what really happens to other businesses? A great way to find the answers to these questions is to pick up a copy of “The Wal-Mart Effect,” by Charles Fishman.

In this objective look at the worlds largest retailer you’ll discover fascinating things about the products on the shelves and the stories behind them. You’ll discover the rags to riches fame of a twelve year old girl and her dad with a unique product called makin bacon. You’ll find out how huge companies have been driven to bankruptcy with Wal-Mart’s always low prices.

A great way to experience this book is to download the audio version on your iPod or other portable audio player and listen while walking around a Wal-Mart store. This book is so eye opening that you will find it hard to pause the audio. From the strategic placement of products on end caps to the remarkable story of Chilean salmon, this book will keep your attention.

Your next visit to a Wal-Mart will be so different. You’ll discover the winners and losers in this multi national corporate battle to have their companies products included on Wal-Mart’s shelves. You’ll see that $99 lawn mower and $2.99 sprinkler that cost many Americans their jobs. You’ll suddenly notice the small quality differences in the national brand jeans selling for $13.95 and wonder what the next quality cut might be.

This is a fascinating and somewhat troubling adventure. You’ll never look at Sam Walton’s company the same again. If you are a business owner this is a must read, because this retailer from the little town of Bentonville Arkansas is changing the way the world does business.

I found a great tip for audio book listeners from Dwayne Melancon over at Genuine Curiosity. It seems Dwayne was stuck in the middle seat on a recent airline flight from Washington D.C. and he could not use his laptop. He decided to experiment with the audio settings on his iPod and discovered the following…

• Here is a tip for getting even more out of your audio books on your iPod (all of the models since the Mini, except the Shuffle):
  • You can change the speed of playback to “Faster” for audio books, and it will cut about 1/3 off the time that it takes to listen to the book. The iPod will adjust the pitch to make it sound mostly normal, too.
  • You can do this by clicking the center button a few times while the audio book is playing and you’ll see an option to set the playback to Slow, Normal, or Faster.

This is a great tip for those audio books that just seem to plod along or when you want to pick up the pace and walk faster. I tested this on my iPod mini and this is really cool for power walking. The quicker pace of the audio naturally helps you pick up your pace. Power walking burns more calories and you’ll definitely notice a difference in calories burned if you use an advanced pedometer with this feature.

Thanks Dwayne for the great idea… my fitness program just got a new boost!